| Takeshi Okumura | |
| Birth Date: | 24 April 1952 |
| Birth Place: | Fukuoka, Japan |
| Professional: | 1978 |
| World Champ: | 9-Ball (1994) |
| Highest Ranking: | 1 |
(born April 24, 1952 in Fukuoka, Japan) is a Japanese professional pool player.
He started playing pool at 16 and turned professional ten years later.[1]
Okumura won the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 1994, defeating Yasunari Itsuzaki in an all Japanese final. With the win, he became the first male Japanese player to win a world championship in pocket billiards. Until Nick Varner won the world 9-Ball title in 1999, Okumura was the oldest champion.
Although he won the world nine-ball crown, Okumura wasn't quite successful in the sport for the next ten years. In 1995, he almost won the International Challenge of Champions but Chao Fong-pang of Taiwan bested him in the last match. He also was closing to winning the U.S. Open 9-ball Championship in 2000 but lost to Earl Strickland, 5-11, in the finals.[2] He nearly had a shot for a second world title in 2002 but again was defeated by Earl Strickland in the semis.[3]
After some less impressive past performances, Okumura showed dominance one last time, in 2005. He defeated Mika Immonen in the finals to win the All Japan Championship, the longest running tournament in the world, featuring players from Japan and the rest of the world.[4]